By Sarah Robinson

The Selma Times-Journal

One Selma City School and four Dallas County Schools have again landed on the list of failing schools defined by the Alabama Accountability Act of 2013.

According to a January 2015 report, Selma’s R.B. Hudson Middle School and Dallas County’s Keith Middle-High School and Tipton Durant Middle School were among the schools who tested in the bottom 6 percent of the state in reading and math for at least three of the past six years.

Brantley Elementary and Southside High School were on the list but eligible for the U.S. Department of Education’s school improvement grant.

The Alabama Accountability Act gives parents of students in failing public schools the option to transfer their children to another public school or to a private school for a tax credit.

The results were based on the 2013 scores from Alabama Reading and Math Test Plus, Alabama Alternate Assessment and the Alabama High School Graduation Exam. The results from the new ACT standardized tests were not included, according to Malissa Valdes-Hubert, the Alabama State Department of Education’s public information manager.

“Since it was the first year and there was no ability for comparison, we used the ARMT plus scores from the year before,” she said.

Acting Selma Superintendent of Education Larry DiChiara said all of the accountability for the issue shouldn’t be placed on R. B. Hudson, which has been labeled a failing school since 2008.

“Obviously,. that’s an emphasis area for any school district to try to follow the issue,” DiChiara said. “However, what I shared with our principals is that this is not an R.B. Hudson issue. This is a K-8 issue, because [R. B. Hudson] is simply the recipient of the kids that are coming from our elementary schools. If we’re not getting the job done in those areas, then that’s going to hurt us when they get up to the middle school.”

DiChiara said that with 90 percent of the failing schools being middle or high schools, its clear that the accountability measures are tougher at those levels. Dallas County Superintendent of Education Don Willingham said his system has targeted the areas that need the most attention, mentioning the district’s 92 percent graduation rate.

“From an instructional point of the graduation rate, we felt like we improved a lot just by working on some of the instruction issues that we could work on,” Willingham said. “At the earlier grade levels, we worked on the standards and foundation, taking each student one by one and had a profile sheet of their weaknesses and strengths. We’re doing a good job using data and test results from previous years to see areas that we can work on to improve the future years.”

A total of 66 Alabama schools made the failing list this year, a decrease when compared to the 76 in 2014 and 78 in 2013.

The four schools removed from the list due to assessment results were Chambers County’s Lafayette Eastside Elementary School, Pickens County’s Pickens County High School, Huntsville City Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School and Tuscaloosa City’s Westlawn Middle School, according to the state. Schools removed from the lists, because they closed were Marengo County’s John Essex High School, Birmingham City’s Martha Gaskins Middle School, Fairfield City’s Forest Hills Middle School, and Huntsville City’s Chapman Middle, Davis Hills Middle and Edward White Middle School.

Valdes-Hubert said the state is continuing to take the steps needed to improve reduce the amount of Alabama public failing schools.

“It’s very similar to last year, so we understand the needs of those schools, and we have worked with them to provide what we call customized support to those schools,” she said. “That is something we have been working on since the inception of the lists, and we’ll continue to.”